Ancestry and descendants of Colonel Daniel Wells (1760-1815) of Greenfield, Massachusetts

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THE OLD WELLS HOMESTEAD IN GREENFIELD

ANCESTRY AND DESCENDANTS

OF

Colonel Daniel Wells

(1760-1815)

OF

GREENFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS

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PREPARED BY

SAMUEL CALVIN WELLS

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HUGH WELLS

Hugh Wells is the first of the ancestors of the Greenfield
Wellses who established his home on this side of the
Atlantic. The recorded facts of his life are meager
and conflicting. The National Cyclopedia of American Biog-
raphy, Volume 10, Page 320, says Hugh Wells was a son of
Thomas Wells, a wealthy Englishman and a zealous Puritan
and descendant of Robert de Welles, of Rayne Hall, Essex,
England, whose family was of Norman origin. Hugh and his
brother, Thomas, arrived in Boston in 1630 in the Susan and
Ellen. After living a short time in Watertown, Mass., they
became original proprietors of Hartford, Conn. Hugh
removed to Norwuttock (Hadley), Mass., in 1659. Thomas
removed to Wethersfield, Conn. He was a member of the first
Court of Magistrates from 1637 to 1654, when he was chosen
Deputy Governor. In 1655 and 1658-59 he was Governor of
Connecticut. Thomas never parted with all his proprietary
interest in Hartford, and some of his descendants still derive
an income from a portion of that land. He is the ancestor of
Gideon Welles, Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy.

Notwithstanding the statement of the National Cyclopedia,
it does not appear to be absolutely certain that Hugh Wells was
a Hartford proprietor or that he ever went from Connecticut to
western Massachusetts. The Memorial History of Hartford,
edited by J. Hamilton Trumbull, makes no mention of Hugh
Wells as one of the original proprietors of Hartford, but it does
include "Ensign" Hugh Welles and Governor Thomas Welles
and Thomas Welles 2d in its list of the original proprietors of

Wethersfield, a few miles south of Hartford, who settled there
between 1635 and 1645. It says that Thomas Welles, the son
of Hugh Welles, went with others from Wethersfield to Nor-
wuttock, afterward Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1659.

The original spelling of the Wells' name was with a
second "e." Gideon Welles, in a letter which has been pub-
lished, argues strongly for the spelling of the Welles name
which his family adhered to. He says that both Thomas and
Hugh spelt their surname "Welles."

All who have endeavored to trace the Welles genealogy
agree in the statement that the founder of this family in Eng-
land was Robert de Welles, or de Euille, one of the Norman
lords who came over with the Conqueror and whose name
appears on the Roll of Battle Abbey as R. de Euilles.

The armorials to which all of this family are entitled are
as follows:

Arms : Or, a lion, rampant, sable.

Crest: A demi-lion, rampant, sable.

Motto: Semper Paratus.

The History of the Welles Family in Massachusetts, by
Albert Welles, president of the American College of Heraldry
and Genealogical Record, of New York, says Hugh Wells was
born in Essex County, England, about 1590, whence he emi-
grated to America. His brother, Richard, came in ship Globe,
in 1635, and it is probable that Hugh came with him and landed
in Salem or Boston. He removed into Connecticut in 1636,
and settled in Hartford, being one of its first settlers. He soon
afterward removed to Wethersfield and died there about 1645.
The same authority says that Governor Thomas Welles was of
the elder branch of the Welles family, and came to this country,
not from Essex, but from Northamptonshire, in 1635. The
Connecticut Records notes the fact that Ensign Hugh Welles
was the first of the name of Welles in Wethersfield.

Mcllcs.

It is probable, therefore, that Hugh Wells and Governor
Thomas Welles were kinsmen, but not brothers, and that
Hugh's stay in Hartford was too brief for him to get his name
impressed upon its records and that he died at a comparatively
early age at Wethersfield and left the work of establishing new
settlements in western Massachusetts to his descendants.

Little is recorded of Hugh Wells' wife, except that her
Christian name was Frances, and that after Hugh Wells' death
she married Thomas Coleman, at Hatfield, Mass., and died
March, 1678. The children of Hugh and Frances Wells are:
Thomas, born about 1620.

Hugh, born about 1625, was a carpenter; settled in Hart-
ford; married, August 19, 1659, Mary, daughter of
William Roscoe ; died December 22, 1678.
Mary, born about 1626; married (1650) Jonathan Gilbert
Marshal, of Connecticut, innkeeper at Hartford. He
died 1682, and his widow kept the inn until her death,
July 3, 1700.
John, born about 1628; settled in Hatfield, Mass.; married
Sarah.

THOMAS WELLS

' I ^homas Wells, eldest son of Hugh and Frances Wells,
-*- was born in England about 1620. Whether Hugh
Wells removed from Wethersfield, Conn., to Hadley
or not, it is certain that two of his sons and his widow lived in
Hadley or on the other side of the Connecticut in Hatfield after
Hugh's death. Thomas removed from Wethersfield to Hadley
in 1659 as one of the "engagers" to settle that town. He died
October or December, 1676. Sheldon's genealogy says: "He
left a good estate in Wethersfield and Hadley and houses and
lands in England." He married, May, 1651, Mary, daughter
of William Beardsley, of Hartford. After the death of Thomas
his widow married Samuel Belding, of Hatfield, June 25, 1678.
She died September 20, 1691, aged 60. It is not recorded, nor
is it likely, that this daughter of William Beardsley bore any
children to Samuel Belding, whom she married at the ripe age
of 47, but the fourteen children she bore to Thomas Wells are
the progenitors of nearly all of the Wells name which covers
sixteen pages of Sheldon's genealogies. This large family of
Thomas Wells forms an interesting element in Mrs. Mary P.
Wells Smith's Young Puritan books. Thomas, the eldest of
the fourteen, and Jonathan, "the boy hero of Turner's Falls,"
became later men of influence and mark in that part of Massa-
chusetts. Hepzibah Wells, the wife of Thomas, scandalized
the grave Puritans of the time by her youthful and innocent
gayety and later by her cruel death at the hands of hostile
Indians added one of many similar tragedies to the sombre
drama of that period. This Puritan series, in four volumes,

though a juvenile story, is a most faithful, striking and inter-
esting representation of the thought and speech, life and perils
of the early Puritan settlers in western Massachusetts. Mrs.
Mary P. Wells Smith is herself a descendant of Noah Wells,
one of the fourteen children of Thomas and Mary Wells, of
Hadley, Mass., the full list of whom is as follows : —

Thomas, born January 10, 1652; died 1691.

Mary, born October 1, 1653; died young.

Sarah, born May 5, 1655 ; married David Hoyt, 1673 ; died
1676.

John, born January 4, 1657; died young.

Jonathan, born 1659; died January 3, 1738.

John, born April 3, 1660; drowned January 20, 1678.

Samuel, born 1662.

Mary, born September 8, 1664; married Stephen Belding,
1682, and Joseph Field in 1723; died 1751.

Noah, born July 26, 1666.

Hannah, born July 4, 1668; married, 1687, John White.

EbenEzER, born July 20, 1669.

Daniel, born 1670; died young.

Ephraim, born April, 1671.

Joshua, born February 18, 1673.

EBENEZER WELLS

Ebenezer Wells, the seventh of the ten sons of Thomas
and Mary Wells, was born in Hadley, Mass., in 1669.
In 1687 grants of four-acre home lots and twenty-acre
farm lots were made to Ebenezer Wells and some fifteen others
on the Green River. The conditions of all the grants were that
the grantees should continue three years as residents of the
new settlement after they became 21 years of age, pay taxes
and their proportion of the Indian purchase money. This was
the beginning of Greenfield. The present main street of Green-
field was selected as a site for the houses on four-acre lots.
These home lots were distributed by lot and Ebenezer Wells
drew No. 1, which gave him the lot at the west end of the town,
on the south side of the street on the brow of the hill above
Green River. This property remained in the hands of succes-
sive descendants of Ebenezer Wells until a comparatively recent
period. The settlement of Greenfield, which began auspiciously
in 1688, met with an early check. The French and Indian war,
generally known as "King William's War," which began in
1689 and ended in 1698, was nearly fatal to such weak and
exposed points as the Green River settlement. For better pro-
tection the settlers abandoned their individual homes and lived
in the shelter of the fortifications on the town street. The most
accessible fields were cultivated with little regard to proprietor-
ship or lines. Not a single settler occupied his land perma-
nently. Ebenezer Wells apparently fulfilled the conditions of
the grant, since his lands were not forfeited, as many of
the others were. How long Ebenezer remained in Greenfield

is not recorded, but he returned to Hadley, where he died. Two
of his sons, John and Joshua, returned to Greenfield and
became permanent residents there. Ebenezer married, Decem-
ber 4, 1690, Mary, daughter of Sergeant Benjamin Waite, of
Hatfield. Benjamin Waite was a scout and a very brave and
resourceful Indian fighter, famed in the annals of that period.
His wife, Martha, and his three daughters — Mary, 6 years old ;
Martha, 4, and Sarah, 2 — were among the number of those
captured by the Indians in their raid on Hatfield, September
19, 1677. The story of the awful journey of these captives to
Canada and their rescue the following Winter by Benjamin
Waite and Stephen Jennings is told in Judd's History of Had-
ley and Sheldon's History of Deerfield, and is retold with fas-
cinating interest and exceeding charm of narrative in The
Young and Old Puritans of Hatfield, the fourth volume of
Mrs. Mary P. Wells Smith's Young Puritan Series. Benjamin
Waite was killed February 29, 1703-4, in the French and
Indian attack on Deerfield. Mary Waite, the eldest of his three
daughters, whom he rescued from captivity, became the wife
of Ebenezer Wells, December 4, 1690, twelve years after her
captivity. It is not recorded when Mary Waite Wells died,
but her youngest child was born in September, 1702. August
15, 1705, Ebenezer Wells married Sarah, daughter of Samuel
Smith, and widow of John Lawrence, who had been killed by
Indians at Brookfield, 1694.

The children of Ebenezer and Mary Waite Wells are: —

Ebenezer, born September 13, 1691 ; died June 12, 1758;

no children.
Thomas, born September 25, 1693; died March 7, 1743;

ten children.

Joshua, born August 31, 1695; died April 21, 1768; four-
teen children.

Martha, born September 18, 1697 ; married Edward Allen.
John, born June 9, 1700; married Sarah Allen; died

March 10, 1746; eight children.
Jonathan, born September 26, 1702; died February, 1797;

eight children.

One child, a daughter, was born to Ebenezer and Sarah
Smith Wells, viz. : —

Mary, born October 24, 1707; married Aaron Graves.

10

JOHN WELLS

John WELLS, fourth son of Ebenezer and Mary Waite
Wells, was born June 9, 1700. He was a soldier in
Father Rasle's French and Indian War, 1724-25. He
owned land in the Green River settlement, afterward known as
Greenfield, and is recorded as one of its early settlers. It is
not known just when he took up his permanent residence in
Greenfield, but he appears to have utilized his Green River
land before it was found to be safe for white men to re-estab-
lish themselves there. I find this paragraph concerning John
Wells and some of his Hatfield neighbors, who were interested
in the Green River farms, recorded in Sheldon's History of
Deer-field : —

"August 25, 1725, Deacon Samuel Field, Deacon Samuel
Child, Sergeant Joseph Severance, John Wells, Joshua Wells
and Thomas Bardwell went over Deerfield River to go to
Green River farms, and they took a cow with them, designing
to put her in a pasture. The Indians ambushed them, but
Deacon Child, driving the cow, discovered them and cried out
'Indians !' John Wells discharged his gun at an Indian, who
fell upon his firing. Deacon Field, being at some distance from
the company, rode toward them, but the company being before
separated from one another, retreated toward the hill and at a
considerable distance from the hill they halted, that John Wells
might load his gun, and then the Indians fired upon them and
badly wounded Deacon Field." This happened near where the
Greenfield railroad station is now located. It was incidents of
this character that postponed the permanent settlement of

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Greenfield for so many years after it was first projected. In
1727, peace being established with the French and Indians,
steps were taken for the permanent settlement of Greenfield,
and soon after John Wells, his brother Joshua and several other
representatives of the Wells family established their homes in
Greenfield. John Wells was made a colonel of militia. He
married Sarah Allen, daughter of Samuel Allen, of Windsor,
Conn., probably about the time he settled in Greenfield, 1727
or 1728. He died March 10, 1746.

The children of John and Sarah Allen Wells are: —

Samuex, born October 28, 1729; married Margaret Mc-
Crellis ; died May 25, 1801 ; four children.

Sarah, born March 16, 1731 ; married Colonel Isaac
Wyman.

John, born February 16, 1734; seven children.

Daniel, born August 17, 1735 ; killed in the "bloody morn-
ing scout."

Susanna, born September 2, 1737; died May 12, 1740.

Elijah, born July 20, 1740.

Susanna, born January 3, 1742; married Aaron Phelps,
January 3, 1761.

Thomas, born October 31, 1745; eleven children.

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LIEUT. SAMUEL WELLS

Samuel Wells, eldest son of John and Sarah Allen Wells,
was born October 28, 1729. He served in the old French
War of 1744-49. He married November 11, 1751, Mar-
garet, daughter of John McCrellis, of Colrain, Mass. He early
established his home in Greenfield, and in 1752, the year before
the town was incorporated, he built the "Wells house," which
stood for many years at the west end of Main Street, on the
south side, near the top of the hill. It was a good-sized, com-
fortable-looking frame house of the old style, and was the home
of four or five successive generations of Wellses, and was
removed only recently to give place to a modern dwelling.
This house as it appeared just before its removal and the great
elm tree planted by the second Samuel Wells about 120 years
ago and which is still standing, are shown in the frontispiece.
Samuel Wells was an ardent patriot during the Revolutionary
period. At a full town meeting held September 13, 1774, with
six others, he was elected delegate from Greenfield to the Pro-
vincial or County Congress. On March 29, 1775, he was made
a member of the town's Committee of Correspondence. He
was commissioned lieutenant in the Army of the Revolution,
May 3, 1776, in Captain Ebenezer Arms' Company 5, Hamp-
shire, Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, and was in active service
in 1776 and 1777. In 1780, being then 51 years of age, his res-
ignation was accepted, owing to infirmities which made him
"no longer able to serve the public cause usefully."

The custom of that period of giving the same Christian
name to those of a common family name has its embarrassments.

13

Lieutenant Samuel Wells has sometimes been confounded with
his cousin, Samuel, son of Jonathan Wells, who was nearly of
the same age, and who removed to Brattleboro, Vt., in 1762.
The latter was prominent in his town and was such an active
Tory during the Revolutionary War that he received a grant
of lands in Canada for his services to the British Crown. Most
of the descendants of Hugh Wells in the Connecticut Valley
were ardent supporters of the patriot cause in the American
Revolution. Lieutenant Samuel Wells' first cousin, Agrippa
Wells, commanded a company during the entire period of the
war and won fame by his dashing spirit and bold exploits.
Colonel David Wells, another cousin, from the neighboring
town of Shelburne, had an honorable and distinguished career
as commander of a regiment during the Revolution. Nearly
every company sent to the patriot army from western Massa-
chusetts during the Revolutionary War contained several of
the descendants of Hugh Wells.

Samuel Wells was very prominent in Greenfield town
affairs. He served as selectman and assessor and was town
clerk for seven years, and for five of these years he was also
town treasurer. He was known in later life as Colonel Samuel
Wells, rather than by his Revolutionary title of lieutenant. His
cousin, the Tory, was also Colonel Samuel Wells. The young-
est son of Lieutenant Samuel Wells, named after his father, was
also a colonel, having been commissioned as lieutenant colonel
in the militia in 1807. In the index to Thompson's History of
Greenfield, these two Colonel Samuel Wells, father and son,
are hopelessly confounded, but in the text it is not difficult to
distinguish them by noting the dates, as Colonel Samuel Wells,
the father, died six years before Colonel Samuel Wells, the son,
received his commission and title. The death of the elder Sam-
uel Wells occurred in his 72d year, on May 25, 1801. His
widow died August 29, 1802, aged J2. The children of Samuel
and Margaret McCrellis Wells are : —

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John, born October 8, 1754; married Mary Wells, October
11, 1778. They had two sons and two daughters; mar-
ried Elizabeth May, July 14, 1798, and had one son
and three daughters ; settled in Rowe, Mass., and died
May 21, 1813.

Daniel, born October 2, 1760; married Rhoda Newton
October 26, 1781 ; issue, three sons and three daugh-
ters; lived in Greenfield; died July 26, 181 5.

Margaret, born October 4, 1766; married Ruel Willard.

Samuel, born December 3, 1769; married Electa Bascom,
September 8, 1792; issue, ten sons and three daugh-
ters; was a leading citizen of Greenfield for many
years, and died January 29, 1836.

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COLONEL DANIEL WELLS

Daniel WELLS, second son of Samuel and Margaret Mc-
Crellis Wells, was born October 2, 1760, in Greenfield,
Mass. He was only fourteen and a half years old when
the Revolutionary War broke out, but he enlisted in the patriot
army as a private in the company of his kinsman, Captain
Agrippa Wells, Colonel Samuel Williams' regiment, in
response to the Lexington alarm of April 19, 1775. He con-
tinued to serve until after the battle of Bennington, August,
1777. After the war he served for many years in the State mil-
itia, and was commissioned in turn ensign, captain, and in 1800
lieutenant colonel commandant. He appears to have removed to
Guilford, Vt, in 1788, but he soon returned to Greenfield.
From the beginning of 1793 to the end of 1809, he was town
clerk and treasurer of Greenfield. In 1796 his name appears
in the recorded town meeting vote "That the town of Green-
field have no objection to the prayer of the petition of Daniel
Wells and others praying to be incorporated for the purpose of
bringing water into Greenfield Street being granted." This
was Greenfield's first water company, and supplied the village
with water until 1869. In 1798, the United States levied a
direct tax, and the assessment on Greenfield for that purpose
gives the names of all owners or occupants of real estate in the
town and the value of their property. Daniel Wells is assessed
as the owner of a lot of 80 rods, valued, with its building, at
$1200, and other real estate worth $5307. This is modest
enough, but it is the heaviest assessment on the list with the
exception of that of his brother-in-law, Ruel Willard, whose

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assessments foot up $8897. The name of Colonel Daniel Wells
appears in a list of the prominent men of the village of Green-
field in 1801, and his occupation is given as a farmer. This list
is still on file in the Recorder of Deeds' office in Greenfield.
His residence was on the main street of the village, on the
opposite side of the street from the older Wells' house and
further east. It was subsequently the home of his son, Judge
Daniel Wells, and is still in a state apparently of good preser-
vation, on the northwest corner of Main and Wells Streets.
He married, October 26, 1781, Rhoda Newton, daughter of
John Newton, of Greenfield. The latter was the son of Abner
Newton, of Durham, Conn., and the brother of Rev. Roger
Newton, who for fifty-six years, beginning in 1761, was the
minister at Greenfield. Their grandfather and Abner's father,
Rev. Roger Newton, was ordained the first minister in Farm-
ington, Conn., in 1645, and in 1666 was ordained the second
minister in Milford, Conn. His wife — the great-grandmother
of Rhoda Newton Wells — was Mary Hooker, the daughter of
Rev. Thomas Hooker, the first minister of Hartford, Conn.
She married Roger Newton about 1644, and bore him eight
children, of whom Abner was the youngest. Daniel Wells died
in Greenfield, July 26, 181 5, in the 55th year of his age. His
widow, Rhoda Wells, survived until July 20, 1833, and died
in Byron, N. Y., in the 73d year of her age.

The children of Daniel and Rhoda Newton Wells are: —

Sarah, born July 1, 1783, in Greenfield. She was of feeble
constitution and never married. She lived in Green-
field most of her life, but from 1829 to 1835 she lived
with her brother in Byron, N. Y., and the last three
years of her life were spent with her sister, Rhoda
Adeline, in Ohio. She died March 4, 1843.

Sabra, born February 3, 1785, in Greenfield; married

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Elijah Alvord, November 12, 1805. Issue, two sons,
three daughters. Died March 21, 1867.
Calvin, born April 22, 1787, in Greenfield. Married Betsy
Taggart, October 25, 1809. Issue, three sons and
one daughter. Died December 13, 1861.

Daniel, born June 14, 1791, in Greenfield. Married Octo-
ber 7, 1823, to Mary Duncan. Issue, three sons and
three daughters. Died June 23, 1854.

Franklin, born June 10, 1793, in Greenfield. Married
Mary Sibly, September 12, 1824. Issue, three sons
and three daughters. Died September 28, 1842.

Rhoda Adeline, born in Greenfield, Mass., March 14, 1798.
Married Justus Preston in 18 18. Issue, two sons and
four daughters. Died March 23, 1858.

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SABRA WELLS ALVORD

Sabra Wells, second daughter of Daniel and Rhoda New-
ton Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., February 3,
1785. She was married November 12, 1805, to Elijah
Alvord. The latter was born November 18, 1777, in Wilming-
ton, Vt. He removed to Greenfield, Mass., studied law and was
admitted to the bar in 1802. He was influential in getting
Hampshire County divided, and in having the county seat of
Franklin located at Greenfield. He was a member of the Mas-
sachusetts Legislature in 18 12, and upon the organization of
Franklin County was made register of probate, and in 1820
became also clerk of the judicial courts. These offices he held
until his death, September 8, 1840. Sabra Wells Alvord died
March 21, 1867, at Greenfield.

The children of Elijah and Sabra Wells Alvord are: —

Sarah Wells, born in Greenfield, August 23, 1806; died
March 6, 1836.

James Church, born in Greenfield, April 14, 1808; died
September 2^, 1839.

Martha, born in Greenfield in 181 5, and died the same
year.

Mary Upham, born in Greenfield, August 10, 1810, and
died June 27, 1884.

Daniel Wells, born in Greenfield, October 21, 1816; died
August 3, 1877.

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Sarah Wells Alvord, oldest daughter of Elijah and
Sabra Wells Alvord, was born at Greenfield, August 23, 1806.
She married Joseph Warren Newcomb, great-grandson of Gen-
eral Joseph Warren, of Bunker Hill fame. She died at Wor-
cester, Mass., March 6, 1836.

The children of Joseph Warren and Sarah Alvord New-
comb are: —

Joseph Warren, Jr., born at Salsbury, Mass., May 17,
1833.

Sarah Alvord, born at Worcester, Mass., July 19, 1835;
married Dr. Buckminster Brown, of Boston, Mass.,
May, 1864 ; died at Boston, April, 1895.

Joseph Warren Newcomb, Jr., son of Joseph Warren
and Sarah Alvord Newcomb, was born at Salsbury,
Mass., May 17, 1833; married October 20, 1858,
Mary, daughter of Dr. George Sumner, of Hartford,
Conn., and great-granddaughter of General Israel
Putnam. She died at Burlington, N. J., October,
1866.

The only child of Joseph Warren and Mary Sumner New-
comb is: —

Warren Putnam Newcomb, born in Hartford, Conn., July
20, 1859; married Caroline Richards, of Cambridge,
Mass. Is captain of Fourteenth Battery Field Artil-
lery, U. S. A. Served in the Spanish War, and has
two daughters, Marion and Frances.

James Church Alvord, oldest son of Elijah and Sabra
Wells Alvord, was born in Greenfield, Mass., April 14, 1808.
He was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1827. He mar-

20

ried Anna Grew, October 20, 1836. He was a lawyer, a mem-
ber of the State Legislature and one of the commissioners to
codify the laws of the Commonwealth. He was elected to
Congress in 1838 while he was a member of the Massachusetts
Senate. He was the first man ever elected to Congress on a
distinctly anti-slavery platform, but before he took his seat he
died, September 27, 1839. Judge Thompson, in his history of
Greenfield, says : "James C. Alvord has always been accounted
one of the most brilliant men ever raised in Franklin County."
His brother lawyer, Whiting Griswold, said of him : "As a
lawyer and advocate at the time of his death, though but 31
years of age, he had few equals and no superiors at this or any
other bar." Wendell Phillips, while in London, England, hear-
ing of the death of James Church Alvord, wrote this appre-
ciative tribute : "His services in the cause of anti-slavery in the
Massachusetts Legislature cannot be too highly estimated.
Entering that body with more influence, perhaps, than was
ever accorded to one of his age before, with talents of the high-
est order, with a mind stored with all the learning of his pro-
fession and matured by a wide practice, as well as early culti-
vation, he was ever ready to throw his whole weight into the
scale of humanity. The right of trial by jury to persons
claimed as slaves was gained almost without opposition, not
only because his arguments were unanswerable, but because
it was he who urged them. Few lawyers cared to measure a
lance with one whose choice of a position was proof that it was
impregnable, and politicians cared as little to oppose one well
known to monopolize the affection and trust of the western
counties. His report exhausts the subject, and whenever, in
any State, that right is to be battled for again, the weapons and
the shield are provided for the champion."

21

Daniex Wells Alvord, youngest son of Elijah and Sabra
Wells Alvord, was born in Greenfield, Mass., October 21, 1816.
He was graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., in
1838. He was a leading lawyer of Greenfield, and from 1856
to 1862 was District Attorney of the Northwestern District,
was a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Conven-
tion, 1853; State Senator, 1854; District Attorney, 1856-62;
Collector of Internal Revenue, 1863-69. After the close of the
Civil War he removed to Lewinsville, Fairfax County, Va.,
where he died, August 3, 1871. He was twice married (1)
May 10, 1843, at Greenfield, Mass., to Caroline Matilda Clapp,
daughter of Henry Wells and Eliza Baldwin Clapp. She died
September 17, 1846, aged 23 years; (2) June 7, 1859, at North-
ampton, Mass., to Caroline Betts Dewey, daughter of Judge
Charles A. Dewey, and grand-daughter of General James Clin-
ton. She died at Hamilton, Mass., April 15, 1899.

The children of Daniel Wells and Caroline Clapp Alvord
are: —

Henry Elijah Alvord, born in Greenfield, Mass., March
11, 1844; died October 1, 1904.

Wells Alvord, born and died in October, 1845, in Green-
field, Mass.

Caroline Matilda Clapp Alvord, born in Greenfield, Sep-
tember 17, 1846.

The children of Daniel Wells and Caroline Dewey Alvord
are: —

Charles Dewey Alvord, born in Greenfield, March 26,
i860; died at Atlanta, Ga., November 27, 1888.

James Church Alvord, born at Greenfield, January 24,
1862.

22

Mary Alvord, born in Greenfield, October 9, 1863 ; died

at Spring Hill, Va., March, 1871.
Clinton Alvord, born in Greenfield, Mass., November 9,

1865.
Clarence Walworth Alvord, born in Greenfield, 1867.

Henry Elijah Alvord, oldest son of Daniel Wells and
Caroline Clapp Alvord, was born in Greenfield, Mass., March
11, 1844. He married, September 6, 1866, Martha Swink,
daughter of William and Margaret Lindsay Swink, of Spring
Hill, Va. He served in the Seventh Rhode Island Cavalry and
in the Second Massachusetts Cavalry through the Civil War,
rising from private to major ; was afterward commissioned
captain in Tenth Regiment, U. S. Cavalry. For a number of
years Major Alvord was connected with the work of Agri-
cultural colleges. He was for a time president of the Asso-
ciation of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment
Stations. In 1895 he organized and became the chief of the
dairy division of the United States Department of Agricul-
ture, in which post he served until his death on October 1,
1904.

Caroline Matilda Clapp Alvord, daughter of Daniel
Wells and Caroline Clapp Alvord, was born in Greenfield,
Mass., September 17, 1846. She was one of the early mission-
ary teachers to the Freedmen representing Greenfield in 1866,
in the first Freedman school established in Fairfax County, Va.
She was married September 13, 1867, to Franklin Sherman,
of Ash Grove, Va. The latter served in the Union army dur-
ing the Civil War, being lieutenant, captain and adjutant in
the Tenth Michigan Cavalry.

23

The children of Franklin and Caroline Alvord Sherman
are: —

Wells Alvord Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., July 19,
1868.

Mary Alvord Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., April 15,
1871 ; died June 14, 1871.

Ruth Brewster Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., April
14, 1872. Graduate nurse Johns Hopkins Hospital,
Baltimore.

Henry Clapp Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., October
16, 1875. Married Cora Aldrich Bo wen, daughter of
Dr. William H. and Phoebe Aldrich Bowen, of Provi-
dence, R. I., September 9, 1903. Instructor in chem-
istry, Columbia University, New York city.

Franklin Sherman, Jr., born in Ash Grove, Va., Novem-
ber 2, 1877. Married Grace Berry, daughter of J.
Owens and Mary Gunnell Berry, of Woodside, Va.,
May 12, 1903. State entomologist of North Caro-
lina.

Miriam Fairchild Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., Janu-
ary 8, 1880.

Caroline Baldwin Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., Octo-
ber 6, 1 88 1. Librarian of Agricultural and Mechani-
cal College, Raleigh, N. C.

Dorothea Foote Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., Sep-
tember 9, 1883.

Martha Alvord Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., July 31,
1886.

John Harvey Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., December
20, 1887.

James Morgan Sherman, born in Ash Grove, Va., May 6,
1890.

24

Wells Alvord Sherman, oldest son of Franklin and
Caroline Alvord Sherman, was born in Ash Grove, Va., July
19, 1868. He married Elsie May Besley, daughter of Bartholo-
mew and Sarah Wilson Besley, May 23, 1895. He is agricul-
tural examiner for United States Civil Service Commission at
Washington, D. C.

The children of Wells Alvord and Elsie Besley Sherman
are: —

Caroline Elizabeth Sherman, born in Eshcol, Fairfax
County, Va., May 22, 1896.

Mary Collins Sherman, born in Eshcol, Fairfax County,
Va., April 24, 1898.

Elsie Besley Sherman, born in Eshcol, Fairfax County,
Va., February 26, 1900.

Martha Thacher Sherman, born in Eshcol, Fairfax
County, Va., February 11, 1902.

Wells Alvord Sherman, Jr., born in Eshcol, Fairfax
County, Va., June 16, 1903.

James Church Alvord, son of Daniel Wells and Caroline
Dewey Alvord, was born in Greenfield, Mass., January 24,
1862. He married Lucy Fairbanks, daughter of Henry and
Annie Hayes Fairbanks, of St. Johnsbury, Vt, June 8, 1898,
He is a minister of the Congregational Church.

The only child born to James Church and Lucy Fairbanks
Alvord is Henry Fairbanks Alvord, born and died April, 1899,
at Woonsocket, R. I.

25

Clinton Alvord, son of Daniel Wells and Caroline Dewey
Alvord, born at Greenfield, Mass., November 9, 1865. He
married Mary Sanford Newton, daughter of Simeon and
Clarissa Sanford Newton, of Worcester, Mass., April 20, 1893.
He is a manufacturer of Worcester.

The children of Clinton and Mary Newton Alvord are : —

Charles Clinton, born in Worcester, Mass., December 19,
1896.

Newton, born in Worcester, Mass., August 18, 1902 ; died
August 24, 1903.

Clarence: Walworth Alvord, youngest son of Daniel
Wells and Caroline Dewey Alvord, born at Greenfield, Mass.,
May 21, 1868. He married Mrs. Jane Parrott Blanchard, Sep-
tember, 1893. He is professor of history in the University of
Illinois. The only child of Clarence Walworth and Jane Par-
rott Alvord is : —

fe f /

Genevieve Raymond, born in June, 1894.

26

CALVIN WELLS, Sr

CALVIN WELLS, Senior

Calvin Wells, eldest son of Daniel and Rhoda Newton
Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., April 22, 1787.
He received what education the schools of Greenfield at
that time afforded. His name is recorded in a list which has
been preserved, of the older scholars attending school in Green-
field in the Winter of 1801-2, under the instruction of Procter
Pierce. On October 25, 1808, he married Betsy Taggart, who
was the sixth of the seventeen children of Rev. Samuel Tag-
gart, of Colrain, Mass.

Parson Taggart, as he was generally called, was of Scotch-
Irish stock, born in Londonderry, N. H., March 24, 1754. He
graduated from Dartmouth College in 1774. He was ordained
a minister of the Presbyterian Church and became pastor of
the church in Colrain in 1777, and filled that position until
1818. In 1802 he was about to remove from Massachusetts and
settle in New York State, when his plans were changed by his
nomination and election to Congress. He served that section
of Massachusetts in Congress continuously and acceptably for
fourteen years. He was a man of strong character and rather
eccentric disposition. He was a Federalist in politics. His
published sermons portray him as a man of keen logical mind
and a theologian of profound reflection, wide reading and
strong convictions. He published a number of religious and
political pamphlets, and at least one volume which still sur-
vives entitled A View of the Evidences of Christianity and of
the Inspiration of the Scriptures, printed in 181 1. His first
wife, Elizabeth Duncan, was a typical Scotch woman of many

27

rare qualities. She bore him fourteen children. His second
wife was Mary Ayers, of Dover, Del., whom he married in
1816, while still a member of Congress. She bore him three
children. Mr. Taggart died April 25, 1825.

Calvin Wells removed with his family from Greenfield to
Genessee County, New York, near the beginning of 181 5. His
letters and papers up to 1820 are dated from Bergen, in that
county, but after that and for many years Byron was his home.
His early life in western New York was that of a pioneer in
a timbered country — logging, cutting and clearing. He was
by occupation a farmer and was interested in a custom grist
and sawmill on Black Creek. He became a prominent man in
that section, was elected Justice of the Peace and transacted
all the law business for his neighborhood for many years. He
was a man of untiring industry, of a deeply religious nature
and punctilious in the discharge of all his duties as a citizen,
a neighbor and church member. He was a deacon of the
Congregational Church and in later life and until his death was
an elder of the Presbyterian Church. His affection for his
family was undemonstrative, but strong and constant. His
wife, Betsy, was a true help-mate and companion. She was
in many respects a remarkable woman, inheriting from her
father a wonderful memory, strong mental powers and that
religious bias so strong in those who were raised under the
influence of New England clericalism of a couple of generations
ago. Her residence was known as the ministers' home for all
the country around. She was foremost in good works, and
exercised a helpful and healthful influence upon her children
that has found expression in their lives. She died in Byron,
April 2, 1842, and her death cast a profound and lasting
shadow over her husband's life. His mill interests had led him
into litigation about that time, and he was the victim of misun-
derstanding and pecuniary loss. The influence of all these

28

things is reflected in this despondent entry in his diary April 2,
1844: "Two years ago to-day my wife died. This world seems
like a blank, a trifle not worth living for. My energies of both
body and mind are somewhat enfeebled by age. My property
has fled ; my reputation and character slandered ; my influence
proportionately dimnished. Ere another year passes, should I
be laid beside my beloved wife, I should not in the least regret
it, but I will wait with patience till God shall call." He was
at the time of making this entry not quite 57 years old, yet he
lived nearly eighteen years thereafter, an active, useful life,
though his vitality was greatly impaired by a severe blow in
the region of the stomach, caused by the rebound of an ox bow
that he was bending, which slipped from his grasp and struck
him with great force, from the effects of which he never fully
recovered. In the later years of his life he was a member of
his son, Newton's, family, and removed with him to Pembroke,
N. Y., in 1849, which was his home until his death, on Decem-
ber 13, 1861.

The children of Calvin and Betsy Wells are : —

Samuel Taggart, born in Greenfield, Mass., August 6,

1809 ; died May 29, 1896.
Daniel Newton, born March 14, 181 1, in Greenfield,

Mass.; died March 23, 1886.
Elizabeth Duncan, born April 20, 1816, in Byron, N. Y. ;

died October 23, 1876.
Calvin, born December 26, 1827, in Byron, N. Y.

29

SAMUEL TAGGART WELLS

Samuel Taggart Weu,s, eldest son of Calvin and Betsy
Taggart Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., August
6, 1809. When 6 years old his family removed to Byron,
N. Y., where his boyhood and youth were passed. He was
graduated from Union College, Schenectady, N. Y., in 1839,
and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1842. He was
licensed to preach by the Second Presbytery of New York
April 2,jy 1842. He first served for a year or more as synodical
missionary in northern Missouri and southern Iowa, and
organized many Presbyterian Churches in that then thinly
settled and rather wild region. From 1843 to 1855 he was
agent of the American Tract Society at Pittsburg, Pa., and
resided in or near that city. In October, 1855, he went to
Dubuque, la., where for two years he was synodical evangel-
ist under the Presbyterian Board of Domestic Missions. In
1857 he removed to Epworth, la., where he organized and for
three years was pastor of the Presbyterian Church in that place.
He also organized and supplied for the same period the Pres-
byterian Church in Centralia. In the Fall of i860 he went to
California and became agent for the Presbyterian Board of
Publication. He lived in Brooklyn, now East Oakland, for
the following eighteen years. In the interval he supplied the
Presbyterian churches in San Lorenzo and Haywards, and was
stated supply of Olivet Church, San Francisco. He took an
active and leading part in organizing and establishing Moun-
tain View Cemetery, Oakland, Cal. In 1878 he removed to
Ventura County, Cal., and for three years was the stated supply

of the Presbyterian Church in Ventura. In 1881 he was hon-
orably retired from active service in the ministry. For several
years he lived on his farm at Saticoy, Cal., but in 1887 ne
made his home in the town of Ventura, where he died May 29,
1896, aged 86 years and nearly 10 months. He was twice mar-
ried: (1) May 25, 1842, to Catherine McPherson, daughter of
John and Catherine Shanklin McPherson, of Schenectady, N.
Y. She was born January 31, 1808, and died in Pittsburg, Pa.,
April 12, 1853, aged 45 years, (2) August 5, 1857, to Eliza
Swan, of Burlington, la. She was born in Chillicothe, O.,
March 6, 1821, and died in Ventura, Cal., February 11, 1899,
aged J J years and 11 months, leaving no children. The chil-
dren of Samuel Taggart and Catherine McPherson Wells
are : —

Rosannah McPherson, born in Schenectady, N. Y., March

20, 1843.
Moses Taggart, born in Pittsburg, Pa., April 19, 1845 >

died February 6, 1904.
Elizabeth Jane, born in Allegheny City, Pa., October 25,

1847.
Samuel Calvin, born in Pittsburg, Pa., November 20, 1849.

Rosannah McPherson Wells, eldest daughter of Sam-
uel Taggart and Catherine McPherson Wells, was born in
Schenectady, N. Y., March 20, 1843. Her early years were
spent in Pennsylvania and Iowa, but she has lived for the
greater portion of her life in California. She was married to
James Graham Cooper, M. D., on January 9, 1866. Dr.
Cooper was graduated from the College of Physicians and Sur-
geons in New York city in 1851. He was physician to the
first Government survey for a Pacific railroad in 1853. He did
much scientific work for the Government and later for several
years served as a United States army surgeon. After his mar-

31

riage he devoted himself to the practice of his profession,
varied by scientific work with the California Academy of Sci-
ence. He is the author of several authoritative works on
scientific subjects. His range was wide, but first ornithology
and later paleontology engaged his special attention. He died
at his home in Haywards, CaL, July 19, 1902.

The children of James Graham and Rosannah Wells
Cooper are : —

William Wells, born in Santa Cruz, CaL, October 15, 1866.

Frances Swan, born in San Francisco, CaL, May 1, 1869.

James Samuel, born in Haywards, CaL, March 8, 1879.

Mosss Taggart Wexls, eldest son of Samuel Taggart and
Catherine McPherson Wells, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., April
19, 1845. Received a common school education. As a young
man was in the employ of the Central Pacific Railroad Com-
pany in San Francisco. Later worked in the silver mines of
Nevada and Colorado. In 1884 he went to Southern California
and engaged in farming. He married Ruth Ann Ifejiois, of
Oakland, CaL, on May 2, 1889. She died in Saticoy, Ventura
County, CaL, December 10, 1899. Moses Wells died in Saticoy,
CaL, on February 6, 1904.

The children of Moses Taggart and Ruth Nichols Wells
are:- —

Florence Ruth, born in Ventura County, CaL, April 14,

1890.
Agnes Booth, born in Ventura County, CaL, July 16, 1891.

Lulu Grace, born in Ventura County, CaL, November 2,
1894.

Samuel Calvin, born in Ventura County, CaL, November
7, 1898.

Rutherford Alfred, born in Ventura County, CaL, Novem-
ber 27, 1899.

32

M«

/&SS

t1/8

- ■

AlAif /x f^^-4

Elizabeth Jane Wells, youngest daughter of Samuel
Taggart and Catherine McPherson Wells, was born in Pitts-
burg, Pa., October 25, 1847. Removed early with her family
to Iowa and then after five years to California, where the
greater portion of her life was passed. She was married Feb-
ruary 10, 1869, to James Robert Farish, of San Francisco.

The children of James Robert and Elizabeth Wells Farish
are: —

Katherine Virginia, born in San Francisco, June 18, 1870;
died March 26, 1901.

Rosalie Lindsley, born in Sherwood, Ore., September 20,
1873.

Katherine Virginia Farish, eldest daughter of James
Robert and Elizabeth Wells Farish, was born in San Francisco,
Cal., June 18, 1870. She was married to Evan Griffins, May
25, 1891. She died March 26, 1901.

The children of Evan and Katherine Farish Griffins

are: —
Virginia Chispa, born in Ventura County, Cal., April 11,

1892.

Ethel Marion, born in Ventura County, Cal., June 10, 1894.
Benjamin Owen, born in Ventura County, Cal., October

23, 1896.
Morris Evan, born in Ventura County, Cal., July 28, 1899.

Rosalie Lindsley Farish, youngest daughter of James
Robert and Elizabeth Wells Farish, was born in Sherwood,
Ore., September 20, 1873. She was married on July 1, 1897,
to Edward Thomas Morris, of San Francisco.

The children of Edward Thomas and Rosalie Farish Mor-
ris are: —

Edward William, born in East Oakland, Cal., September

13, 1898.
Malcolm Wells, born in East Oakland, Cal, December 17,

1903.

33

Samuel Calvin Wells, youngest son of Samuel Taggart
and Catherine McPherson Wells, was born in Pittsburg, Pa.,
November 20, 1849. Spent boyhood in Pennsylvania, Iowa
and California. Returned to Pittsburg, Pa., in 1868, where he
fitted for college. Entered Princeton the year following and
was graduated in 1873. Studied law and was admitted to the
Allegheny County (Pa.) bar in 1876. Joined the editorial staff
of The Philadelphia Press in 1879, and has been an editorial
writer on that paper since that time. Was editor-in-chief of
the paper for two years, 1890- 1892, and again was chief editor
from 1898 to 1902. He married Virginia Collins Haines, of
Philadelphia, October 5, 1887.

The children of Samuel Calvin and Virginia Haines Wells
are: —

George Calvin, born in Philadelphia, Pa., July 11, 1888.
Margaret Heulings, born in Philadelphia, Pa., February

5, 1891.
Warren McPherson, born in Philadelphia, November 1,

1893.

34

DANIEL NEWTON WELLS, Senior

Daniel Newton .Weixs, second son of Calvin and Betsy
Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., March 14, 181 1.
The family removed in 181 5 to western New York,
where his youth and early manhood were passed. He was by
occupation a farmer and lived first in Byron and then Pem-
broke, N. Y. He removed to Buffalo Grove, Buchanan
County, la., in 1862, and in 1870 to Loudoun County, Virginia.
On January 29, 1834, at Byron, N. Y., he married Elizabeth
Rachel Taggart, who was born in Preble, N. Y., April 14, 181 5.
He lived to celebrate his golden wedding, January 29, 1884,
and died in Loudoun County, Va., March 28, 1886, aged 75
years.

The children of Daniel Newton and Elizabeth Taggart
Wells are : —

Frances Eliza, born in Byron, N. Y., April 23, 1836; died

October 2, 1844.
Franklin Herbert, born in Byron, N. Y., December 4,

1838; died May 22, 1880.
Daniel Newton, Jr., born in Byron, N. Y., May 5, 1841 ;

died August 25, 1874.
Charlotte Elizabeth, born in Byron, N. Y., June 22, 1846.
Gilbert Crawford, born in Byron, N. Y., October 12, 1848.
Charles Alfred, born in Pembroke, N. Y., October 25,

1852; died October 1, 1855.
Frances Esther, born in Pembroke, N. Y., December 6,

1855 ; died March 14, 1859.

35

Frankun Herbert Wexls, eldest son of Daniel Newton
and Elizabeth Taggart Wells, was born in Byron, N. Y.,
December 4, 1838. On December 13, 1859, he married Sarah
Abigail Sisson, of Pembroke, N. Y., who was born in the same
place September 19, 1840. He enlisted in the Union army
July 7, 1863, and served as corporal in Company E, Fifteenth
Regiment, New York Volunteer Cavalry. He took part in a
large number of engagements ; served under General Custer
during part of his term of service and was in Sheridan's army
at the famous battle of Winchester. He was honorably dis-
charged August 22, 1865. He resided successively in the
States of New York, Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, Virginia and
West Virginia. He died in Martinsburg, W. Va., May 22,
1880.

The children of Franklin Herbert and Sarah Sisson Wells
are: —

Alfred Church, born in Sugar Island, Mich., September
10, 1861 ; died September 2, 1866.

George Randall, born at Eagle Harbor, N. Y., August 22,
1866; died November 3, 1902.

Herbert Alonzo, born in Buffalo Grove, la., September
21, 1869; died August 27, 1870.

Jennie Elsie, born in Sterling, Va., February 16, 1871.

George Randaix Weu,s, second son of Franklin Herbert
and Sarah Sisson Wells, was born at Eagle Harbor, N. Y.,
August 22, 1866. On March 17, 1886, he married Ella E.
Hunt, of Corfu, N. Y., who died April 29, 1887. An infant
son of this marriage died April 30, 1887. On April 24, 1889,
he married Margaret Eleanor Schadler, in Buffalo, N. Y. He
died in Buffalo November 3, 1902, and his wife, Margaret, died
on November 17, following.

36

The children of George Randall and Margaret Schadler
Wells are: —

Mabel Elsie, born in Buffalo, N. Y., January 27, 1890.
Franklin Herbert, born in Buffalo, N. Y., November 2,

1891.
George Raymond, born in Buffalo, N. Y., May 25, 1895.
Daniel Newton, born in Buffalo, N. Y., February 14,

1900.
Margaret Eleanor, born in Buffalo, N. Y., October 21,

1 901 ; died August 12, 1902.

Jennie Elsie Wells, only daughter of Franklin Herbert
and Sarah Sisson Wells, was born at Sterling, Loudoun
County, Va., February 16, 1871. She married Grant A. Ban-
nister, April 26, 1888, in Batavia, N. Y. The latter was born
September 12, 1868, in Byron, N. Y. They reside in Herndon,
Fairfax County, Va. The children of Grant and Jennie Elsie
Wells Bannister are: —

Franklin Wells, born in Washington, D. C, February 10,
1891.

Mary Elizabeth, born in Washington, D. C, February 16,

1893.

John Grant, born in Herndon, Va., August 3, 1897.

Daniel Newton Wells, Jr., second son of Daniel New-
ton and Elizabeth Taggart Wells, was born in Byron, N. Y.,
May 5, 1841. He was married in Pembroke, N. Y., April 16,
1862, to Emma Christiana Sisson, of Pembroke, who was born
May 15, 1842. He was by occupation a farmer and lived after
leaving New York in 1862, in Buffalo Grove, la. In 1870
removed to Loudoun County, Va., where he died August 25,

37

i874> aged 33 years. Emma Sisson Wells died in Batavia, N.
Y., January 24, 1885.

The children of Daniel Newton and Emma Sisson Wells
are : —

Frank Newton, born in Buffalo Grove, la., March 30,

1864.
George Nelson, born in Buffalo Grove, August 22, 1866.
Libbie Jane, born in Buffalo Grove, la., September 3,

1868; died July 8, 1896.

Frank Newton Wells, eldest son of Daniel Newton,
and Emma Sisson Wells, was born in Buffalo Grove, la., March
30, 1864. On November 17, 1891, married Jane Hippie Gar-
rett, who was born in Washington, D. C., January 7, 1867,
and died September 13, 1897. On March 28, 1901, he married
Elinor Eckerson.

The children of Frank Newton and Jane Garrett Wells
are: —

Walton Garrett, born September 18, 1892.
Mildred Jennie, born August 19, 1896.

George Nelson Wells, second son of Daniel Newton
and Emma Sisson Wells, was born in Buffalo Grove, la.,
August 22, 1866. Married October 19, 1892, Lillie Bessie
Craven, who was born in Sterling, Va., September 2yt 1873.

The children of George Nelson and Lillie Craven Wells
are: —

Henry Craven, born July 29, 1893.

Emma Adelaide, born August 2^^ 1895.

Libbie Jane Wells, only daughter of Daniel Newton and
Emma Sisson Wells, was born in Buffalo Grove, la., September
3, 1868. Was married to John Williams, in Denver, Col., Feb-

38

ruary 12, 1890, and died in Goochland County, Va., July 8,
1896.

The children of John Williams and Libbie Wells Williams
are: —

Frank Seymour, born in Denver, Col., August II, 1891.

Frederic, born in Goochland County, Va., February 10,
1896.

Gilbert Crawford Wells, third son of Daniel Newton
and Elizabeth Taggart Wells, was born in Byron, N. Y., Octo-
ber 12, 1848. On April 4, 1870, in Buffalo Grove, la., he mar-
ried Laura Ellen Jewett, who was born in Mayville, N. Y.,
April 4, 1849. After farming in Iowa for about ten years he
obtained a position in the Pension Office in Washington, D. C,
and improved the leisure he found to study law. Went to
Pueblo, Col., about 1890, and soon secured a good practice at
the bar of that county.

The children of Gilbert Crawford and Laura Jewett Wells
are: —

Carrie Esther, born in Buffalo Grove, la., January 29, 1871.
Delia Elizabeth, born in Buffalo Grove, la., May 6, 1872.
Calvin Jewett, born in Buffalo Grove, la., July 10, 1875.
David Ernest, born in Sterling, Va., January 28, 1877.
Daniel Nelson, born in Sterling, Va., January 14, 1880.

Carrie Esther Wells, eldest daughter of Gilbert Craw-
ford and Laura Jewett Wells, was born in Buffalo Grove, la.,
January 29, 1871. On June 23, 1899, m Pueblo, Col., she mar-
ried John Richmond Humphrey, who was born in Oil City, Pa.,
December 23, 1872.

39

The children of John Richmond and Carrie Esther Wells
Humphrey are : —

Clara Wells, born in Pueblo, Col., February n, 1901.
Delia Fairmount, born in Pueblo, Col., March 25, 1903.

Delia Elizabeth Wells, second daughter of Gilbert Craw-
ford and Laura Jewett Wells, was born in Buffalo Grove, la.,
May 6, 1872. Was married February 22, 1899, in Pueblo, Col.,
to Edward Clark Hurford, who was born in Council Bluffs, la.,
November 30, 1868.

The children of Edward Clark and Delia Elizabeth Wells
Hurford are : —

Laura Elizabeth, born in Pueblo, Col., November 15, 1899.
Elizabeth Wells, born in Laramie, Wyo., October 27, 1901.

Calvin Jewett Wells, eldest son of Gilbert Crawford and
Laura Jewett Wells, was born in Sterling, Va., January 28,
1875. Was married December 23, 1896, in Pueblo, Col., to
Lelia Roark, who was born in Mt. Jackson, Va., May 12, 1875.

The children of Calvin Jewett and Lelia Roark Wells
are: —

Floyd Edward, born in Pueblo, Col., September 27, 1897;

died September 1, 1899.
John Crawford, born in Pueblo, Col., February 22, 1901.
Daniel Louis, born in Pueblo, Col., June 18, 1903.

David Ernest Wells, second son of Gilbert Crawford and
Laura Jewett Wells, was born in Sterling, Va., January 28,
1880. Was married in Youngstown, O., September 23, 1899,
to Leora Carpenter, who was born in Pueblo, Col., October 2yf
1878.

40

The children of David Ernest and Leora Carpenter Wells
are: —

David Dillingham, born in Pueblo, Col., November 12,
1900.

Wescott Jewett, born in Buffalo, N. Y., January 17, 1903.

41

ELIZABETH DUNCAN WELLS

Elizabeth Duncan Wells, only daughter of Calvin and
Betsy Wells, was born in Byron, N. Y., April 20, 1816.
She was married in Byron, October 11, 1837, to Philetus
Swift Church. The latter was born in Riga, Monroe County,
New York, August 20, 1812. He was for many years a mer-
chant and lumberman among the Indians of northern Michigan,
and their home was on Sugar Island, in the Sault Ste. Marie
River. Mrs. Elizabeth Wells Church died at Sugar Island
October 23, 1876. Philetus S. Church married Julia E. Hop-
kins, October 20, 1878. He died July 2, 1883, and Julia Hop-
kins Church died December 6, 1885, leaving no children.

The children of Philetus Swift and Elizabeth Wells Church
are: —

Jesse Wells, born in Byron, N. Y., September 8, 1838.

Munson Taggart, born in Detroit, Mich., 1843; died in
infancy.

Philetus Munson, born in Sugar Island, Mich., May 2,
1847.

Jesse Wells Church, eldest son of Philetus Swift and
Elizabeth Wells Church, was born in Byron, N. Y., September
8, 1838. His parents removed soon thereafter to the State of
Michigan. He married Rosalie Lasage, who was born in
Escanaba, Delta County, Mich., February 25, 1850. He is a
marine architect and homeopathic physician.

42

The children of Jesse Wells and Rosalie Lasage Church
are: —

George Minturn, born Sugar Island, Mich., July 23, 1866.

Adeline Duncan, born Harbor Island, Mich., March 8,

1869; died March 23, 1902.
Alice Mary, born Harbor Island, Mich., July 29, 1873.

Elizabeth Wells, born Harbor Island, Mich., January 4,
1877; died April 28, 1895.

Eva Ellen, born Harbor Island, Mich., June 3, 1879; died
September 15, 1889.

Philetus Swift, born Harbor Island, January 24, 1883.
Hector Hall, born Harbor Island, Mich., August 24, 1885.
Stanly Jesse, born Harbor Island, Mich., January 3, 1890.

George Minturn Church, eldest son of Jesse Wells and
Rosalie Lasage Church, was born on Sugar Island, Mich., July
23, 1866. He married Clarabelle Seaman, of Drummond Island,
Mich., November 20, 1888.

The children of George Minturn and Clarabelle Seaman
Church are : —

Fidelia Delora, born on Drummond Island, Mich., April
28, 1899.

Jesse Wells, born on Drummond Island, Mich., November

Adeline Duncan Church, eldest daughter of Jesse Wells
and Rosalie Lasage Church, was born in Harbor Island, Mich.,
March 8, 1869. She was married at Drummond, Mich., May 1,
1889, to George H. Leonard, of Fish Creek, Dove County,
Wis. She died on March 23, 1902.

43

The children of George H. and Adeline Church Leonard
are: —

Philo Benediction, born Harbor Island, Mich., May 29,
1890.

Ella Blanche, born on Bald Island, Mich., July 24, 1897.

Auce Mary Church, second daughter of Jesse Wells and
Rosalie Lasage Church, was born on Harbor Island, Mich.,
July 29, 1873. Was married April 13, 1896, at Drummond,
Mich., to Jay A. Riley, of Cheboygan, Mich. The issue of Jay
A. and Alice Church Riley is Rosalie Riley, born on Harbor
Island, Mich., July 3, 1897, and died at St. Ignace, Mich., Octo-
ber 5, 1901.

Phii^tus Munson Church, youngest son of Philetus
Swift and Elizabeth Wells Church, was born on Sugar Island,
Mich., May 2, 1847. He married Frances Jennings, of Ashta-
bula, O., on January 8, 1874. The latter was born in Ogdens-
burg, N. Y., February 1, 1853, and died in Ashtabula, O., Feb-
ruary 18, 1875. Philetus Munson Church was for many years
engaged in the hardware business at Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
On February 12, 1884, he married Miss Mabel Scranton, who
was born in Detroit, Mich., April 15, 1859. There have been
no children of this marriage. The only child born to Philetus
Munson and Frances Jennings Church was a son, Francis
Jennings Church, born in Ashtabula, O., February 12, 1875,
and died September 15, 1875.

44

CALVIN WELLS, Jr.

Calvin Wells, Jr., the youngest son of Calvin and Betsy
Taggart Wells, was born December 26, 1827, in Byron,
Genesee County, New York. When quite a young lad
he met with the serious misfortune of having ones ankle
crushed. The effect of this extended all through his boyhood,
and prevented his active participation in the athletic sports and
labors of other boys. In 1842 he became a clerk in the store
of his brother-in-law, Philetus S. Church, in Detroit, Mich.,
where he remained two years. From 1844 to 1847 ne was clerk
in a store in Batavia, New York. He had received the ordinary
public school education, which he had improved upon as oppor-
tunity offered, and in 1847 ne went to Pittsburg, Pa., and at-
tended the Western University until 1849. ^n tne early part of
the latter year he became bookkeeper in the wholesale dry goods
house of Benjamin Glyde, of Pittsburg. In 1850 he became as-
sociated with Dr. Curtis G. Hussey, which resulted a few years
later in the organization of the crucible steel manufacturing
firm of Hussey, Wells & Co. In 1867 he added to his steel busi-
ness the manufacture of railway elliptic car springs, in associa-
tion with Mr. Aaron French. Both the steel and the car springs
concerns developed rapidly a large and profitable business, and
though now under different ownership, still enjoy the prestige
which the energetic and sagacious policy of their founders early
gave to them. In 1869 he became president of the Illinois Zinc
Company, which soon became one of the leading manufacturers
of spelter and sheet zinc in the United States. In 1876 Calvin
Wells withdrew from Hussey, Wells & Co., and in 1884 from

45

the car springs business. In 1877 he became president and
treasurer of the Pittsburg Forge & Iron Co., and has been its
directing head ever since . In 1877 ne> w*tn others, purchased
The Philadelphia Press from John W. Forney, Mr. Wells se-
curing a controlling interest, which he subsequently increased.
He has retained ever since the control of that widely-circulated
and influential newspaper, and as president of The Press Com-
pany his directing hand is seen and felt at every important move
in the business or policy of that paper. In 1884 ne was one of
the Republican electors from the State of Pennsylvania, whose
vote was given to Blaine and Logan. In the senatorial contest
in Pennsylvania of 1899, which terminated in a deadlock, he re-
ceived, on several days, the complimentary vote for United
States Senator of the entire fifty "Insurgent" Republicans. He
was twice married (1) July 5, 1854, at Allegheny City, Pa., to
Annie Glyde, who was born in Yeovil, England, January 20,
1835. She died in Pittsburg, Pa., March 13, 1859; (2) Sep-
tember 13, 1861, at Allegheny City, Pa., to Mary Chaffey
Glyde, who was born in Yeovil, England, March 8, 1836. She
died in Allegheny City, Pa., May 31, 1904. Annie and Mary
Chaffey Glyde were the daughters of Benjamin and Annie
Chaffey Glyde, who were married in Thorncombe, Devonshire,
England, October 12, 1831. Benjamin Glyde was born June
20, 1800. He was a glove manufacturer in Yeovil, Somerset-
shire, England. In 1841 he removed with his family to Pitts-
burg, Pa., where he was engaged in business as a merchant for
many years. He died September 15, 1862. Annie Chaffey
Glyde died September 1, 1877, agd ^2 years.

The only child of Calvin and Annie Glyde Wells is Annie
Glyde, born in Pittsburg, Pa., May 6, 1855.

The children of Calvin and Mary Glyde Wells are : —
Mary Chaffey, born in Pittsburg, Pa., June 26, 1863.

46

George Duncan, born in Pittsburg-, Pa., January 20, 1866;

died July 27, 1866.
Benjamin Glyde, born in Pittsburg, Pa., November 8, 1868.

Annie Glyde Wells, eldest daughter of Calvin and Annie
Glyde Wells, was born in Pittsburg, May 6, 1855. Was edu-
cated in private schools in Pittsburg and in Pelham Priory and
Vassar College, in New York State. She was married on April
26, 1881, in Allegheny City, Pa., to Robert Johnson Cook. The
latter was born in Fayette County, Pa., in 1848, graduated from
Yale College in 1876 and was at the time of his marriage a
member of the Pittsburg bar. They lived for about a year in
Leipsic, Germany. Afterward for twelve years they resided in
or near Philadelphia, Mr. Cook being for most of this period
business manager of The Philadelphia Press.

The children of Robert J. and Annie Wells Cook are : —

Elsa, born in Leipsic, Germany, February 17, 1882. Mar-
ried to Charles Edward Greenfield in San Francisco,
Cal., February 16, 1904.

Helen Chaffey, born in Philadelphia, Pa., January 1, 1885.

Dorothy Glyde, born in Bryn Mawr, Pa., July 20, 1890.

Mary Chaffey Wells, daughter of Calvin and Mary
Glyde Wells, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., June 26, 1863. She
was educated in private schools in Pittsburg and Philadelphia,
and was married October 15, 1885, in Pittsburg, Pa., to Chaun-
cey Milton Griggs, of St. Paul, Minn. The latter was born in
Minnesota in i860, graduated from Yale College in 1882, and
his business is that of a wholesale grocer.

47

The children of Chauncey Milton and Mary Wells Griggs
are: —

Calvin Wells, born in St. Paul, Minn., November 13, 1886.
Milton Wright, born in St. Paul, Minn., November 15,
1888.

Katharine Glyde, born in St. Paul, Minn., June 22, 1890;

died March 2J, 1893.
Mary Glyde, born in St. Paul, Minn., April 21, 1893.
Everett, born in St. Paul, Minn, December 17, 1894.
Benjamin Glyde, born in St. Paul, Minn., January 1, 1898.
Elizabeth Taggart, born in St. Paul, Minn., March 3, 1901.
Chauncey Wright, born in St. Paul, Minn., November 3,

1902.

Benjamin Glyde Weixs, son of Calvin and Mary Glyde
Wells, was born in Pittsburg, Pa., November 8, 1868. He was
graduated from the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale Univer-
sity, in the class of 1894. He married October 30, 1895, at
Uniontown, Pa., Louise Dewey, of Stamford, Conn. He soon
after became Secretary and Treasurer of The Press Company,
of Philadelphia, Pa., and has resided in Bryn Mawr, Pa., since
1895.

The children of Benjamin Glyde and Louise Dewey Wells

are

Mary Glyde, born in Bryn Mawr, Pa., June 21, 1897.
Calvin, born in Bryn Mawr, Pa., October 1, 1898.
Lewis Badger, born in Beaumaris, Ontario, Canada, July
18, 1903.

48

JUDGE DANIEL WELLS

JUDGE DANIEL WELLS

Daniel Wells, second son of Daniel and Rhoda Newton
Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., January 14, 1791.
He was graduated from Dartmouth College, N. H., in
1810. Studied law with his brother-in-law, Elijah Alvord, and
was the head of the Franklin County (Mass.) bar for many
years. His practice extended all through the western part of
the State. He served one term in the State Legislature as
Representative, 1826, and one term as State Senator, 1837. He
was District Attorney for the four western counties of Massa-
chusetts, from 1837 to 1844, when he was appointed Chief Jus-
tice of the Court of Common Pleas, which place he held for the
remainder of his life. After his appointment as Judge he re-
moved from Greenfield to Cambridge. He married Mary
Duncan, in Preble, Courtland County, N. Y., October 7, 1823.
He died June 23, 1854. Mary Duncan Wells died May 29,
1882.

The children of Daniel and Mary Duncan Wells are : —

George Duncan, born in Greenfield, Mass., August 21,
1826. Killed at the battle of Cedar Creek, Va., Octo-
ber 13, 1864.

Mary Jane, born in Greenfield, Mass., January 9, 1829.
Died September 18, 1867.

Daniel, born in Greenfield, Mass., April 29, 1832. Died
September 13, 1833.

Rosa Anna Lamb, born in Greenfield, Mass., October 8,
1835.

49

James Church Alvord, born in Greenfield, Mass., August
2, 1839. He resided, for the greater part of his life,
in Cambridge, Mass., where he died on October 13th,
1904.

Alice Rhoda, born in Greenfield, Mass., June 2, 1843. Re-
sides in Cambridge, Mass.

George Duncan Weu.s, eldest son of Daniel and Mary
Duncan Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., August 21, 1826.
When a youth he was a member of the community under the
care of George Riply at Brook Farm, his principal tutor being
Charles A. Dana. He was graduated from Williams College,
Mass., in 1846. Studied law at Harvard ; was admitted to the
bar in 1849, practiced for a short time in Boston, and in 1851
returned to Greenfield and entered into a law partnership with
his cousin, Daniel Wells Alvord. He represented Greenfield in
the State House of Representatives in 1858 and 1859, and in
the latter year was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He
was an able speaker, a good debater and strongly sympathized
with the Free Soil movement. In 1859 he was appointed Judge
of the Police Court in Boston. When the Civil War broke out
he promptly enlisted in the Union cause, and was commisisoned
May 22, 1861, lieutenant colonel of the First Massachusetts
Regiment. He distinguished himself at the first battle of Bull
Run, and at the siege of Yorktown, upon the personal request
of General Hooker to General Grover, commanding his brigade,
Colonel Wells led the assault on the redoubt in front of York-
town, and was the first man to enter the fortification. He saw
hard service in the Peninsular campaign. For a time he was
provost marshal of Williamsburg. In 1862 he was appointed
colonel of the Thirty- fourth Massachusetts Regiment, and spent
a short time at home in drilling and organizing men. His com-
mand was taken to Washington in August, 1862, and for a time

50

garrisoned Fort Lyon, chief among the defenses of that city. In
July, 1863, he was in command of Harper's Ferry, at the head
of a brigade under General Nagle. In October he drove back
an invading force under the rebel General Imboden, pursuing
them ten miles and making a remarkable march. In Decem-
ber he was in co-operation with Averill in his celebrated raid to
cut the Virginia and Tennessee railroad. When near Harrison-
burg his little army of 1400 men was attacked by Early with a
much larger force, but Wells held the enemy in check and
effected a masterly retreat, reaching Harper's Ferry with his
army in good condition and bringing a hundred prisoners. He
was afterward in command at Martinsburg, and in April, 1864,
his regiment was joined to Seigel's command. He was in
most of the valley fights during the Autumn of 1864. October
13, 1864, he was in command of a brigade at South Cedar
Creek, and was hard pressed by the enemy. While engaged
in directing its movements he was pierced with a bullet and slid
off his horse. He was soon surrounded by his officers, and just
then came the order to retreat. He would not be moved, saying :
"It's of no use, I cannot live; gentlemen, save my regiment."
The officers were obliged to retire to save themselvs from cap-
ture. Lieutenant Cobb refused to go and was captured with his
dying commander. Soon General Jubal Early came up, and
inquired who the wounded man was. Upon being told that it
was Colonel Wells, he said: "What! The officer who com-
manded the force against us last Winter ? Send my ambulance
for him." The next day our army recovered the lost ground,
and Colonel Wells' body was found in the church in prepara-
tion by the people for a soldier's funeral. His body was taken
to Greenfield and laid in the Green River Cemetery, which he
had aided so much in making beautiful. He was never mar-
ried. His commission as a brigadier general was sent by the
War Department to his mother after his death.

51

Mary Jane Weixs, eldest daughter of Daniel and Mary-
Duncan Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., January 9, 1829.
Married Dr. Charles Francis Foster, and died September 18,
1867.

The only child of Charles Francis and Mary Wells Fos-
ter is: —

Charles Chauncey, born December 24, 1857.

Rosa Anna Lamb Wejxs, second daughter of Daniel and
Mary Duncan Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., October 8,
1835. She married Samuel Lothrop Thorndike. The children
of Samuel Lothrop and Anna Lamb Wells Thorndike are : —

Albert, born in Boston, Mass., October 13, i860.

George Duncan Wells, born in Boston, Mass., September
23, 1862. Died February 13, 1878.

Sturgis Hooper, born in Boston, Mass., June 11, 1868.

Mary Duncan, born in Boston, Mass., August 13, 1871.

Albert Thorndike, eldest son of Samuel Lothrop and
Anna Lamb Wells Thorndike, was born in Boston, Mass.,
October 13, i860. He married December 31, 1895, Mary
Quincy Gould, who was born April 16, 1872, and is a daughter
of Benjamin Apthorp and Mary Quincy Gould.

The children of Albert and Mary Gould Thorndike are : —

Mary Quincy, born February 18, 1897.

Rosanna Duncan, born May 30, 1898.

Dorothy, born August 25, 1900.

Mary Duncan Thorndike, daughter of Samuel Lothrop
and Anna Lamb Wells Thorndike, was born in Boston, Mass.,
August 13, 1871. She was married June 20, 1895, to Charles
Henry Fiske. He was born February 18, 1872, and is a son of
Charles Henry and Cornelia Robbins Fiske.

52

The children of Charles Henry and Mary Thorndike Fiske
are: —

Charles Henry, born December 3, 1896.
Cornelia Robbins, born November 20, 1898.
Rosanna Duncan, born July 4, 1900.

53

FRANKLIN WELLS

Frankun WsXLS, the third son of Daniel and Rhoda New-
ton Wells, was born in Greenfield, Mass., June 10, 1793.
He removed to Grafton, Lorain County, Ohio, about
1 8 19. He taught the first school established in Grafton. The
history of Lorain County says of him : "Franklin Wells, from
Massachusetts, proved a great accession to our settlement. He
was fitted for college in his native land, which placed him in
advance of any who had ventured among us. He first taught
school in a log schoolhouse, was our second Justice of the
Peace and afterward Associate Judge of Lorain." He married
Mary Sibley, of Grafton, September 12, 1824. She was also
a pioneer school teacher and receives honorable mention in the
history of Lorain County, being credited with the first school
in that county. Her family came from Great Barrington, Mass.
Six children were born to them in Grafton, but an unusual
series of fatalities overtook the greater number of them. The
eldest girl, Jane Eliza, when three years old, was thrown from
a vehicle in a runaway accident while riding with her parents
and was killed. His eldest son, Stephen, when three and a half
years old, was playing on a large log, which rolled over on him
and killed him. Another son, Franklin, while still less than
two years old, fell from a chair while eating an apple and was
choked to death. In 1844, Franklin Wells removed with his
family to Attica, Lapier County, Mich., took up land and went
into the lumber business. He died there September 28, 1845.
His widow survived till September 14, 1852.

54

The children of Franklin and Mary Sibley Wells are : —
Jane Eliza, born September 4, 1825, in Grafton, O. ; died

September 18, 1828.
Stephen Sibley, born in Grafton, O., April 24, 1829; died

November 27, 1832.
Herman Hopkins, born in Grafton, O., March 27, 1831 ;

died August 8, 1853.
Franklin Duncan, born in Grafton, O., May 22, 1834; died

February 23, 1835.
Nancy J., born in Grafton, O., April 30, 1836.
Mary Newton, born in Grafton, O., May 8, 1838.

Nancy J. S. Wells, eldest of the daughters of Franklin
and Mary Sibley Wells, who reached maturity, was born in
Grafton, O., April 30, 1836. She changed the Nancy of her
name to Annie, and has been called by the latter name all her
life. She was married October 20, 1868, to John G. Whitwell,
of New York city. They took up their residence in Camden,
N. J., where Mr. Whitwell for some years kept a drug store.
He died in Camden, N. J., in 1882.

Mary Newton Wells, youngest daughter of Franklin
and Mary Sibley Wells, was born in Grafton, O., May 8, 1838.
She was married February 3, 1859, to George Riley Whipple.
The latter was born in Amboy, Oswego County, N. Y., Decem-
ber 15, 1833. He removed with his parents to Medina County,
O., in 1845, where the rest of his life was passed. He was a
school teacher and a farmer. He died at his home in Medina,
O., March 8, 1898.

55

The children of George Riley and Mary Whipple are : —
Frances Nancy, born December 2J, 1859, m Montville,

Medina County, O.
John Sibley, born July 18, 1865, in Montville, Medina

County, O.

Frances Nancy Whipple, daughter of George Riley and
Mary Wells Whipple, was born in Montville, Medina County,
O., December 27, 1859. She was married Octobei 31, 1900, to
William Henry Hobart.

John Sibley Whipple, son of George Riley and Mary
Wells Whipple, was born in Montville, Medina County, O.,
July 18, 1865. He married Harriet Maria Dana, October 31,
1888. He is by occupation a farmer.

The children of John Sibley and Harriet Dana Whipple

are

Marion Brown, born in Medina County, O., April 26, 1892.
Maude Le Moure, born in Medina County, O., August

30, 1894.
Alonzo Dana, born in Medina County, O., August 25, 1896.
George Wells, born in Medina County, O., January 7, 1900.
Helen, born in Medina County, O., February 26, 1902.

56

RHODA ADELINE WELLS PRESTON

Rhoda Adeline, the youngest of the children of Daniel
and Rhoda Newton Wells, was born in Greenfield,
Mass., March 14, 1798. She married Justus Preston
in 1818. He was born in Granby, Mass., June 21, 1783, and
was the son of John and Rachel Preston, of that place. He
was twice married. His first wife was named Lucretia. They
had a daughter by the same name, who married George Gage,
and lived in Albany. Justus Preston lived for a time in Athol,
Mass.,, and owned a stage route between Athol and Albany, N.
Y. After his marriage to Rhoda Adeline Wells he lived in
Greenfield. About 1832 they removed to Byron, N. Y., where
they lived for a short time. In 1835 they removed to Grafton,
O., which was thereafter their permanent home. Mr. Preston,
after he gave up his stage route, became a farmer by occupa-
tion, which he supplemented in Winter time by cabinet making.
He died in Grafton, April 4, 1843. His widow survived until
March 23, 1858.

The children of Justus and Rhoda Adeline Wells Preston
are : —

Adeline, born in Greenfield, Mass., May 24, 1819; died
October, 1872.

Jeriel, born 1822; died December 13, 1851.
Lucia Dexter was born January 31, 1826; died February
16, 1862.

Franklin Wells, born October 30, 1832; died August 14,

1904.
Mary, born October 26, 1834; died March 9, 1871.
Sarah Alvord, born July 12, 1834; died April 21, 1888.

57

Adeline Preston, the eldest daughter of Justus and
Rhoda Adeline Wells Preston, was born in Greenfield, Mass.,
May 24, 1819. She married Mark Sumner Sibley, who was
born November 24, 18 17, and died April 1, 1896. She lived
all her life in Grafton, O., and died October, 1872.

The children of Mark and Adeline Preston Sibley are: —
Henry. Died unmarried.

William, married Minnie Chester. He went as mission-
ary to India and died there.
Mary. Married W. S. Berdan, of Litchfield, O. They
had one child, Sibley Berdan, born August, 1862. He
lives in the State of Washington. Mary Berdan
died soon after the birth of her son Sibley.

Lucia Dexter Preston, the second daughter of Justus
and Rhoda Adeline Wells Preston, was born January 31, 1826.
She married Dr. E. D. Merriam. She died February 16, 1862.
Their children are: —

Nellie, born July 31, 1853. Married W. N. Walker. They
have three boys, Charles, Henry and Harold. They
live at Mt. Pelier, O.
Lucia, born February 6, 1862. Married E. G. Woodruff
February 23, 1899.

Frankun Weu,s Preston, second son of Justus and
Adeline Wells Preston, was born in Byron, N. Y., October
30, 1832. He married Martha Susannah Johnston, December
22, 1858, in Grafton, Lorain County, O. She is the daughter
of Stephen Cleveland Johnston and Sarah Diatha Dresser
Johnston, and was born in Millville, Orleans County, N. Y.,
August 8, 1837. Mr. Preston was a farmer in his early life in
Lorain County, O. About 1858 he sold his farm and moved
to Toledo, O., where for thirty years he engaged successfully

58

in the wholesale and retail grocery business. He retired from
business in 1889. He made Chicago, 111., his place of residence
in the later years of his life, and died there August 14, 1904.

The children of Franklin and Martha Johnston Preston
are: —

Carl Weber, born in Grafton, Lorain County, O., Decem-
ber 7, 1864.

Ernest Johnston, born in Toledo, O., August 8, 1870.

Franklin Wells, born in Toledo, O., January 20, 1878.

Harry Dresser, born in Toledo, O., February 11, 1881 ;
died August 11, 1897.

Carl Weber Preston, eldest son of Franklin and Martha
Johnston Preston, was born in Grafton, O., December 7, 1864.
Married Frances Helen Lloyd, in Toledo, O., November 6,
1889. She is the daughter of Cromwell John Lloyd and Helen
Munson Daniels Lloyd, of Lockport, N. Y., and Toledo, O.
One child, a daughter, has been born to this marriage: —

Helen, born October 17, 1890.

Ernest Johnston Preston, second son of Franklin and
Martha Johnston Preston, was born in Toledo, O., August 8,
1870. Married Mrs. Marie Campbell Mason, daughter of
John Wesley and Florentine Smith Campbell, June 12, 1894,
in Chicago, 111.

The children of Ernest and Marie Campbell Preston
are: —

Harry Campbell, born July 29, 1897.
Florentine Dresser, born November 20, 1899.

Franklin Wells Preston, Jr., third son of Franklin
and Martha Johnston Preston, was born in Toledo, O., Janu-
ary 20, 1878; married Georgia Frances Seaverans, daughter
of William Sever and Frances Seaverans, October 2, 1901, in
Chicago, 111.

59

Mary Preston, the fifth child of Justus and Rhoda Ade-
line Wells Preston, was born in Grafton, O., October 26, 1834.
She married George M. Ingersoll, July 17, 1861, and died
March 9, 1871.

The children of George and Mary Preston Ingersoll
are: —

Henry W., born in Grafton, O., January 14, 1863.
George Wells, born in Grafton, O., September 10, 1864.
Annie Adeline, born in Grafton, O., January 10, 1867;
died in Elyria, O., March 16, 1881.

Henry W. IngersoIvI,, eldest son of George and Mary
Preston Ingersoll, was born in Grafton, O., January 14, 1863.
He is an attorney-at-law and resides in Elyria, O. He married
May Belle Hamilton, October 24, 1888, at Elyria.

The children of Henry W. and May Hamilton Ingersoll
are :—

Mary Cassandra, born in Elyria, O., November, 1891.

Henry Hamilton, born in Elyria, O., July 11, 1896; died
June 2J, 1897.

Henry Walter, born in Elyria, O., January 5, 1903.

George Wells Ingersou,, second son of George and
Mary Preston Ingersoll, was born in Grafton, O., September
10, 1864. Married Myrtie Parmly at Elyria, O., September
18, 1889.

Sarah Alvord Preston, youngest child of Justus and
Rhoda Adeline Wells Preston, was born in Grafton, O., July
12, 1838; was married in Grafton, O., October, 1858, to Wal-
lace La Moure; died April 21, 1888. Wallace La Moure was
born in 1832 ; died October 7, 1868.

60

The children of Wallace and Sarah Preston La Moure
are: —

Mary, born January 14, i860. Was married to Miles

Harrison in Oberlin, O., in 1884; died April 9, 1894.
Wells Wallace, born in La Grange, O., April 20, 1865.

Now resides in Chicago.

Mary La Moure, daughter of Wallace and Sarah Preston
La Moure, was born January 14, 1859; was married to Miles
Harrison in Oberlin, O., in 1884. Died April 9, 1894. Miles
Harrison and his surviving children live in Grafton, O.

The children of Miles and Mary La Moure Harrison are : —
Helen Frances, born in Wabash, Ind., May 6, 1887; died Octo-
ber 20, 1887:
Ruth, born in Wabash, Ind., October 20, 1888.
Jean, born in Wabash, Ind., August 6, 1891.

61

DESCENDANTS OF COLONEL DANIEL WELLS

(1760-1815)

As the Record Shows November 1 , 1 904.

Total.

Sons 3

Daughters 3 6

Grandsons 13

Granddaughters 12 25

Great-grandsons 32

Great-granddaughters 17 49

Great-great-grandsons 45

Great-great-granddaughters 45 90

Great-great-great-grandsons 22

Great-great-great-granddaughters .... 17 39

209

Of the 209 descendants of Colonel Daniel Wells, 115 are
males and 94 females. There are living of these at this date
146, of which the males number 80 and the females 66.

DESCENDANTS OF SABRA WELLS ALVORD

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons 2 2

Daughters 3 3 5

Grandsons 4 3 7

Granddaughters 2 1 3 10

Great-grandsons 7 2 9

Great-granddaughters 8 1 o— — 18

Great-great-grandsons I . . 1

Great-great-granddaughters ... 4 . . 4 5

26 12 38

Of these 38 descendants of Sabra Wells Alvord, 19 are

males and 19 females. There are living 12 males and 13
females.

62

DESCENDANTS OF CALVIN WELLS, Sr.

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons i

Daughters

Grandsons 5

Granddaughters 5

Great-grandsons 22

Great-granddaughters 16

Great-great-grandsons 20

Great-great-granddaughters ... 11

2

3

I

1 4

6

11

2

7 18

3

25

7

23 48

1

21

2

13 34

80 24 104

Of these 104 descendants of Calvin Wells, Sr., 60 are males
and 44 females. There are living 48 males and 32 females.

DESCENDANTS OF SAMUEL TAGGART WELLS

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons 1

Daughters 2

Grandsons 6

Granddaughters 6

Great-grandsons 4

Great-granddaughters 2

2

2 4

6

7 13

4

2 6

21 2 23

Of these 23 descendants of Samuel Taggart Wells, 12 are
males and 11 females. There are living 11 males and 10
females.

DESCENDANTS OF DANIEL NEWTON WELLS

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons 1 3 4

Daughters 1 2 3 7

Grandsons 5 3 8

Granddaughters 3 1 4 12

Great-grandsons 14 I 15

Great-granddaughters 7 1 8 23

31 11 42

Of these 42 descendants of Daniel Newton Wells, 2.7 are
males and 15 females. There are living 20 males and 11
females.

63

DESCENDANTS OF ELIZABETH DUNCAN WELLS
CHURCH

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons 2 i . . 3

Grandsons 4 . . 4

Granddaughters 1 4 5 9

Great-grandsons 2 . . 2

Great-granddaughters 2 1 3 5

11 6 17

Of these 17 descendants of Elizabeth Duncan Wells
Church, 9 are males and 8 females. There are living 8 males
and 3 females.

DESCENDANTS OF CALVIN WELLS, JR.

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons 1 1 2

Daughters 2 . . 2 4

Grandsons 7 . . 7

Granddaughters 6 1 7 14

16 2 18

Of these 18 descendants of Calvin Wells, Jr., 9 are males
and 9 females. There are living 8 males and 8 females.

DESCENDANTS OF JUDGE DANIEL WELLS

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons 3 3

Daughters 2 1 3 6

Grandsons 3 1 4

Granddaughters 1 . . 1 5

Great-grandsons 1 . . 1

Great-granddaughters 5 . . 5 6

12 5 17

The descendants of Judge Daniel Wells numbered 17 on
June 1, 1904, of whom 8 are males and 9 females. There are
living 4 males and 8 females.

64

DESCENDANTS OF FRANKLIN WELLS

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons 3 3

Daughters 2 1 3 6

Grandsons 1 • • 1

Granddaughters 1 . . 1 2

Great-grandsons 3 . . 3

Great-granddaughters 2 . . 2 5

9 4 13

The descendants of Franklin Wells numbered 13 on June
1 . [904, of whom 7 are males and 6 females. There are living
4 males and 5 females.

DESCENDANTS OF RHODA ADELINE WELLS
PRESTON

Living. Dead. Total.

Sons 2 2

Daughters 4 4 6

Grandsons 6 3 9

Granddaughters 2 3 5 14

Great-grandsons 6 1 7

Great-granddaughters 5 1 6 13

19 14 33

According to this record, which is as complete as the com-
piler was able to make it, the descendants of Rhoda Adeline
Wells Preston numbered 33 on November 1, 1904, of whom 18
are males and 15 females. There are living 12 males and 7
females.

65